Backlight assembly and liquid crystal display apparatus having the same

ABSTRACT

In a backlight assembly and a liquid crystal display apparatus, the backlight assembly has lamps parallel to each other to emit a light, a receiving container having a bottom portion and a side portion to receive the lamps, and a mold member coupled to the receiving container to cover the ends of the lamps. The mold member has a reflecting face having a diffusion pattern that reflects the light from the lamps and an upper face extending from the reflecting face in a plane substantially parallel to the bottom portion. Thus, a shadow portion of the backlight assembly may be removed, to thereby enhance image display quality of the liquid crystal display apparatus.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/197,570 filed on Aug. 3, 2005, which relies for priority upon KoreanPatent Application No. 2004-68226 filed on Aug. 28, 2004, the contentsof which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a backlight assembly and a liquidcrystal display apparatus having the backlight assembly.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, a liquid crystal display apparatus is a flat panel displaydevice that uses liquid crystal in order to display an image. Suchliquid crystal display apparatuses have various characteristics such asa thinness, light weight, low driving voltage, low power consumption,etc., and therefore have been widely used in various industries relatingto display technology.

In the above liquid crystal display apparatus, the liquid crystal panelis not a self-emissive light element that generates light. Therefore, abacklight assembly is often used in order to supply light to the liquidcrystal panel.

The backlight assembly includes a lamp for generating light. Often, thelamp employs a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) having a thin andelongated tubular shape. The backlight assembly is classified generallyinto an edge illumination type and a direct illumination type, dependingon the lamp position. In the edge illumination type backlight assembly,one or two lamps are positioned adjacent to a lateral side of atransparent light guide plate, and the light from the lamp ismultiple-reflected from the light guide plate and then applied to theliquid crystal display panel. In the direct illumination type backlightassembly, a plurality of lamps are disposed under the liquid crystaldisplay panel, a diffusing plate is disposed between the lamps and theliquid crystal display panel, and a reflecting plate is disposed underthe lamps. The light from the lamps is reflected from the reflectingplate and diffused by the diffusing plate, and the diffused light isapplied to the liquid crystal display panel. Thus, the edge illuminationtype backlight assembly is applied generally to a small-scale liquidcrystal display apparatus, and the direct illumination type backlightassembly is applied to a large-scale liquid crystal display apparatusrequiring a high brightness.

However, in case of the direct illumination type backlight assembly, theperipheral region of the backlight assembly appears relatively darkcompared to the central region of the backlight assembly. Uniformity oflight from the backlight assembly is deteriorated, thereby degradingimage display quality thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a backlight assembly capable of improvingbrightness uniformity.

The present invention also provides a liquid crystal display apparatushaving the above backlight assembly.

In one aspect of the present invention, a backlight assembly includeslamps, a receiving container and a mold member. The lamps, which aresubstantially parallel to each other, generate light. The receivingcontainer having a bottom portion and a side portion receives the lamps.The mold member is coupled to the receiving container to cover ends ofthe lamps. The mold member includes a reflecting face on which adiffusion pattern reflecting the light from the lamps is formed and anupper face extending from the reflecting face so as to diffuse andreflect the light from the lamps.

The diffusion pattern includes protrusions protruded from a surface ofthe reflecting face. The protrusions have a circular cone shape or ahemispherical shape. The diffusion pattern has recesses formed at asurface of the reflecting face.

The reflecting face is downwardly inclined towards the lamps from theupper face. The reflecting face has openings corresponding to the lamps,respectively.

The backlight assembly may further include a lamp holder combined withends of the lamps to hold the lamps, and the lamp holder is covered bythe mold member.

The backlight assembly further includes a diffusion plate disposed onthe lamps to diffuse the light generated from the lamps. The mold memberhas a stepped portion formed on the upper face so as to guide thediffusion plate.

The backlight assembly may further include a reflecting plate disposedunder the lamps to reflect the light from the lamps, an optical sheetdisposed on the diffusion plate, and a mold frame coupled to thereceiving container so as to hold the diffusion plate and the opticalsheet.

In another aspect of the present invention, a liquid crystal displayapparatus includes a backlight assembly, a liquid crystal display paneland a top chassis.

The backlight assembly has lamps to generate light, a receivingcontainer having a bottom portion and a side portion to receive thelamps, and a mold member having a reflecting face on which a diffusionpattern reflecting the light from the lamps is formed and an upper faceextended from the reflecting face so as to diffuse and reflect the lightfrom the lamps. The liquid crystal display panel receives the light fromthe backlight assembly to display an image. The top chassis fixes theliquid crystal display panel to the backlight assembly.

The invention removes a shadow portion of the backlight assembly andthereby enhances the image display quality of the liquid crystal displayapparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent by describing in detailed exemplaryembodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a backlight assemblyaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged perspective view of the backlightassembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing in detail the mold member of FIG.1;

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of the portion A in the diffusionpattern of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged view illustrating another exemplaryembodiment of the diffusion pattern of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged view illustrating another exemplaryembodiment of the diffusion pattern of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing a backlight assemblyaccording to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the backlight assembly of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the moldmember, the diffusion plate and the optical sheet of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing in detail the mold member of FIG.9; and

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view showing a liquid crystal displayapparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be describedin detail with reference to the accompanied drawings.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a backlight assembly 100according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 isa partially enlarged perspective view of the backlight assembly of FIG.1.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the backlight assembly 100 includes aplurality of lamps 200, a receiving container 300, and a mold member400. The lamps 200, such as an external electrode fluorescent lamp(EEFL), are arranged in parallel to each other and emit light. Thereceiving container 300 has a bottom portion 310 and a side portion 320so as to provide a receiving space into which the lamps 200 arereceived. The mold member 400 is coupled to the receiving container 300while covering the end portions of the lamps 200. The mold member 400has a reflecting face 410 and an upper face 420 extending from thereflecting face 410 in a direction substantially parallel to the bottomportion 310. The reflecting face 410 has a diffusion pattern 412 so asto diffuse the light from the lamps 200.

The lamps 200 emit light in response to a driving voltage from anexternal source. Each of the lamps 200 has, for example, a cold cathodefluorescent lamp (CCFL) having a thin and elongated tubular shape. Thelamps 200 are arranged in regular intervals for uniformity ofbrightness. The number of the lamps 200 depends on the requiredbrightness.

In the present embodiment, the backlight assembly 100 may furtherinclude lamp holders 210 in order to fix the lamps 200 to the receivingcontainer 300. The end portions of the lamps 200 are inserted into thelamp holders 210, and the lamp holders 210 are coupled to the receivingcontainer 300. For example, two lamps adjacent to each other may becoupled to a single lamp holder. The lamp holders 210 are covered by themold member 400.

The receiving container 300 is composed of the bottom portion 310 andthe side portion 320 extending from and along the edge of the bottomportion 310. In order to provide a coupling space and enhance a couplingstrength, the side portion 320 has an upside down U-shape. The receivingcontainer 300 is formed of a metallic material having a good strengthand rigidity. The lamps 200 coupled to the lamp holders 210 and the moldmember 400 are sequentially received into the receiving space of thereceiving container 300.

In the present embodiment, the backlight assembly 100 has two moldmembers 400 to cover both end portions of the lamps 200. The two moldmembers 400 are coupled to two facing side portions 320 of the receivingcontainer 300, respectively. The two mold members have the samestructure and function, and thus the description of one mold memberapplies to both. The mold member 400 fixes the lamp holders 210 to thereceiving container 300 while covering the lamp holders 210 so they arenot exposed to the environment. The mold member 400 includes thereflecting face 410 that reflects the light from the lamps 200 and theupper face 420 extending from the reflecting face 410 in the directionsubstantially parallel to the bottom portion 310 of the receivingcontainer 300. In the present embodiment, the reflecting face 410 hasthe diffusion pattern 412 formed therein to diffuse the light such thata larger amount of light can be directed upwards.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing in detail the mold member of FIG.1.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the mold member 400 has the reflecting face410 that reflects the light from the lamps 200 and the upper face 420extending from the reflecting face 410 in the direction substantiallyparallel to the bottom portion 310 of the receiving container 300.

The reflecting face 410 is downwardly inclined toward the lamps 200 froman extended line EL of the upper face 420 in order to reflect the lightfrom the lamps 200 upwardly. The reflecting face 410 has an inclineangle θ in the range of 45 to 90° with respect to the extended line EL.The reflecting face 410 is provided with openings 414 formed at thepositions corresponding to the lamps 200, respectively. Thus, the lamps200 are inserted into the openings 414 when the mold member 400 iscoupled to the receiving container 300.

The reflecting face 410 has the diffusion pattern 412 formed therein soas to diffuse a larger amount of the light from the lamps 200 upward.The diffusion pattern 412 is formed of a fine embossment or intagliopattern. For example, the diffusion pattern 412 may be formedsimultaneously when the mold member 400 is formed by an injectionmolding process. In the present invention, the diffusion pattern 412 isformed in a regular arrangement. However, this is not a limitation ofthe invention and the diffusion pattern 412 may be irregular in somecases.

The upper face 420 extends from the reflecting face 410 in a plane thatis substantially parallel to the bottom portion 310. The upper face 420extends to the side portion 320 of the receiving container 300 whilecovering the lamp holders 210. The upper face 420 may have a couplinghole 424 formed therethrough, so that the upper face 420 can be coupledto the side portion 320 of the receiving container 300 with a screwpassing through the coupling hole 424. Further, the upper face 420 mayhave a stepped portion 422 guiding and placing a diffusion plate (notshown) to be disposed above the lamps 200.

The mold member 400 may further include a first supporter 430 and asecond supporter 440, which are downwardly extended from the upper face420. When the mold member 400 is received into the receiving container300, the first supporter 430 makes contact with the side portion 320 ofthe receiving container 300, thereby guiding the mold member 400properly into a right place. The first supporter 430 is partially openedat positions corresponding to the lamp holders 210. The second supporter440 has an extended length shorter than that of the first supporter 430,and is positioned between the first supporter 430 and the reflectingface 410. The second supporter 440 pressurizes the lamp holders 210 tothereby prevent the movement of the lamp holders 210.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of the portion A in the diffusionpattern 412 of FIG. 3 in order to illustrate an exemplary embodiment ofthe diffusion pattern.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the mold member 400 has the diffusionpattern 412 formed in the reflecting face 410 thereof. For example, thediffusion pattern 412 is formed of protrusions 415 protruding from thereflecting face 410. In the present embodiment, each of the protrusions415 has a circular cone shape. In other words, each of the protrusions415 has a circular cross section when the protrusions 415 are cut in adirection substantially parallel to the reflecting face 410, and each ofthe protrusions 415 has a triangular cross section when the protrusions415 are cut in a direction substantially perpendicular to the reflectingface 410. In an alternative embodiment, the protrusions 415 may beconfigured to have a rectangular cross section when is the protrusions415 are cut in the direction substantially perpendicular to thereflecting face 410. The protrusions 415 may be arranged in regularintervals with a constant spacing between them, but this is not alimitation of the invention. The protrusions 415 function to diffuse andreflect the light from the lamps 200 so as to direct a larger amount oflight upward, toward the liquid crystal panel.

FIG. 5 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of the diffusion patternof FIG. 3.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 5, the diffusion pattern 412 includesprotrusions 416 protruding from the reflecting face 410. In the presentembodiment, each of the protrusions 416 has a hemispherical shape. Inother words, each of the protrusions 416 has a circular cross sectionwhen the protrusions 416 are cut in a direction substantially parallelto the reflecting face 410, and a semi-circular cross section when cutin a direction substantially perpendicular to the reflecting face 410.In the present embodiment, the protrusions 416 are arranged in regularintervals so as to have a constant spacing between them, but may bearranged irregularly. The protrusions 416 function to diffuse andreflect the light from the lamps 200 so as to direct an increased amountof light upward.

FIG. 6 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of the diffusion patternof FIG. 3.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 6, the diffusion pattern 412 has recesses 417formed as depressions or indentations on the reflecting face 410. Therecesses 417 have predetermined depth. In the present embodiment, eachof the recesses 417 may have various shapes such as a circular coneshape, a polypyramid shape, a hemispherical shape and so on. Therecesses 417 may be arranged in regular intervals with a constantspacing between them, but may also be arranged irregularly. The recesses417 function to diffuse and reflect the light from the lamps 200 so asto direct an increased amount of light upward.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing a backlight assemblyaccording to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG.8 is a cross-sectional view showing the backlight assembly of FIG. 7. Inthe present embodiment, the lamps, the receiving container, and the moldmember have the same structure as in FIGS. 1 to 6, and thus any furtherdetailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 9, a backlight assembly 500 of this embodimentincludes a plurality of lamps 200, a receiving container 300, and a moldmember 400. The lamps 200 are arranged in parallel to each other andemit light. The receiving container 300 has a bottom portion 310 and aside portion 320 to provide a receiving space into which the lamps 200are received. The mold member 400 is coupled to the receiving container300 while covering the end portions of the lamps 200. The mold member400 has a reflecting face 410 and an upper face 420 extending from thereflecting face 410 in a direction substantially parallel to the bottomportion 310 of the receiving container 300. The reflecting face 410 isprovided with a diffusion pattern 412 formed therein in order to diffusethe light from the lamps 200.

The backlight assembly 500 further includes a diffusion plate 510disposed above the lamps 200 to diffuse the light generated from thelamps 200. The diffusion plate 510 has a rectangular plate-like shapehaving a predetermined thickness. The diffusion plate 510 diffuses thelight generated from the lamps 200 to thereby enhance the uniformity ofbrightness of the light. The diffusion plate 510 is disposed spacedapart from the lamps 200 by a predetermined distance, and supported bythe upper face 420 (see FIG. 3) of the mold member 400 and the sideportion 320 of the receiving container 300.

The backlight assembly 500 further includes a reflecting plate 520disposed under the lamps 200 to reflect the light from the lamps 200.The reflecting plate 520 is formed in regions, which correspond to thebottom portion 310 and two side portions 320 substantially parallel tothe lamp 200. The reflecting plate 520 functions to reflect the lightdirected from the lamps 200 upward, thereby enhancing light efficiency.

The backlight assembly 500 may further include at least one opticalsheet 530 disposed on the diffusion plate 510. The optical sheet 530functions to convert a path of the light from the diffusion plate 510such that the brightness and the uniformity thereof can be enhanced.Thus, the optical sheet 530 includes a condensing sheet that condensesthe light from the diffusion plate 510 or a diffusion sheet thatdiffuses again the light diffused through the diffusion plate 510. Thenumber of the optical sheet 530 may vary, depending on a desiredbrightness characteristic of the backlight assembly 500.

The backlight assembly 500 may further include a mold frame 540. Themold frame 540 is coupled to the receiving container 300 to fix thediffusion plate 510 and the optical sheet 530 to the receiving container300. That is, the mold frame 540 fixes the ends of the diffusion plate510 and the optical sheet 530 when coupled to the receiving container300. The mold frame 540 may be formed in two or four pieces, in casewhere a size thereof is so large that it cannot be easily fabricated inthe form of a single piece.

The backlight assembly 500 may further include an inverter 550 disposedat a rear face of the receiving container 300. The inverter 550generates a driving voltage for driving the lamps 200. The inverter 550functions to transform a low-voltage alternating current into ahigh-voltage alternating current, which is output to the lamps 200 asthe driving voltage. The driving voltage from the inverter 550 isapplied to each of the lamps 200 through first and second lamp wires 552and 554. That is, one end of each lamp 200 is electrically connected tothe inverter 550 through the first lamp wire 552 and the other end iselectrically connected to the inverter 550 through the second lamp wire554.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the moldmember, diffusion plate and optical sheet of FIG. 7. FIG. 10 is anenlarged perspective view of the mold member in FIG. 9.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, a mold member 600 includes a reflectingface 610 and an upper face 620. A diffusion pattern 612 is formed on thereflecting face 610 so as to direct the light upward toward the liquidcrystal panel. In FIGS. 9 and 10, the diffusion pattern 612 has the samestructure and function as those of the diffusion pattern of FIGS. 4 to6, and thus any further detailed description thereof will not berepeated. The mold member 600 has a fixing portion 622 protruding fromthe upper face 620, wherein the fixing portion 622 is designed forfixing the diffusion plate 640. The diffusion plate 640 is provided witha fixing recess 642 formed therein so as to be coupled to the fixingportion 622. When the fixing portion 622 is coupled to the fixing recess642, the diffusion plate 640 is fixed to the upper face 620 of the moldmember 600.

The mold member 600 includes a sheet-fixing portion 624 formed on thefixing portion 622 so as to fix the optical sheet 650. The sheet-fixingportion 624 has the form of a protrusion on the fixing portion 622.Although the sheet-fixing portion 624 may be formed on the upper face620, it is preferably formed on the fixing portion 622. The opticalsheet 650 has a fixing hole 652 into which the sheet-fixing portion 624is to be inserted. When the sheet-fixing portion 624 is inserted intothe fixing hole 652, the optical sheet 650 is fixed to the mold member600.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view showing a liquid crystal displayapparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.In FIG. 11, the liquid crystal display apparatus is denoted generally at900. In the present embodiment, the backlight assembly is the same as inFIGS. 1 to 10, and thus details thereof will not be repeated here.

Referring to FIG. 11, the liquid crystal display apparatus 900 of thisembodiment includes a backlight assembly 500 supplying the light, adisplay unit 700 displaying an image and a top chassis 800 fixing thedisplay unit 700.

The display unit 700 includes a liquid crystal display panel 710displaying an image, and data and gate printed circuit boards 720 and730 providing driving signals for the liquid crystal display panel 710.The driving signals from the data and gate printed circuit boards 720and 730 are applied to the liquid crystal display panel 710 through dataand gate flexible printed circuit films 740 and 750, respectively. Forexample, each of the data and gate flexible printed circuit films 740and 750 may be formed of a tape carrier package (TCP) or a chip on film(COF). The data flexible printed circuit film 740 further includes adata driving chip 742 and a gate driving chip 752 so as to control thedriving signal such that the driving signals from the date and gateprinted circuit boards can be timely applied to the liquid crystaldisplay panel 710. The data printed circuit board 720 is disposed at therear face of the receiving container 300 by bending the data flexibleprinted circuit film 740. The gate printed circuit board 730 is disposedat the rear face or a side face of the receiving container 300 bybending the gate flexible printed circuit film 750. On the other hand,the gate printed circuit board 730 and the date printed circuit board720 may be integrated into a single printed circuit board.

The liquid crystal display panel 710 includes a thin film transistor(TFT) substrate 712, a color filter substrate 714 facing the TFTsubstrate 712, and liquid crystal 716 interposed between the TFTsubstrate 712 and the color filter substrate 714.

The TFT substrate 712 is a transparent glass substrate with TFTs(switching elements) formed therein in a matrix configuration. Each ofthe TFTs has a source terminal connected to a data line, a gate terminalconnected to a gate line, and a drain terminal connected to a pixelelectrode (not shown), which is made of a transparent conductivematerial.

The color filter substrate 714 is a substrate on which RGB color pixels(not shown) are formed by a thin film process. The color filtersubstrate 714 has a common electrode (not shown) formed thereon. Thecommon electrode is formed of a transparent conductive material.

When a power voltage is applied to the gate terminals of the TFTs andthe TFTs are turned on, an electric field is generated between the pixelelectrode and the common electrode. The arrangement of the liquidcrystal 716 between the TFT substrate 712 and the color filter substrate714 is varied due to the electric field applied thereto, and thus alight transmittance of the liquid crystal 716 varies with thearrangement thereof, thereby enabling to display the image of a desiredgradation.

The top chassis 800 is coupled to the receiving container 300, whilewrapping around an edge area of the liquid crystal display panel 710 soas to fix the liquid crystal display panel 710 to the backlight assembly500. Thus, the top chassis 710 prevents damage to the liquid crystaldisplay panel 710 from an external impact and separation of the liquidcrystal display panel 710 from the backlight assembly 500.

According to the backlight assembly and the liquid crystal displayapparatus of the invention, the mold member covering the ends of thelamps is provided with the diffusion pattern formed in the reflectingface thereof to diffuse and reflect the light. The presence of thediffusion pattern eliminates a shadow portion in the peripheral area ofthe backlight assembly and thereby enhances the image display quality ofthe liquid crystal display apparatus.

Although the exemplary embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed, it is understood that the present invention should not belimited to these exemplary embodiments but various changes andmodifications can be made by one ordinary skilled in the art within thespirit and scope of the present invention as hereinafter claimed.

1. A backlight assembly comprising: a plurality of lamps to generatelight; a receiving container to receive the lamps, the receivingcontainer having a bottom portion and a side portion; and a mold membercoupled to the side portion of the receiving container while coveringends of the lamps, the mold member fixing the lamps to the side portionof the receiving container, the mold member having a reflecting face andan upper face extending from the reflecting face, the reflecting facehaving a diffusion pattern formed thereon so as to diffuse and reflectlight from the lamps.
 2. The backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein thediffusion pattern comprises protrusions on a surface of the reflectingface.
 3. The backlight assembly of claim 2, wherein each of theprotrusions has a circular cone shape.
 4. The backlight assembly ofclaim 2, wherein each of the protrusions has a hemispherical shape. 5.The backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the diffusion patterncomprises recesses on a surface of the reflecting face.
 6. The backlightassembly of claim 1, wherein the reflecting face is downwardly inclinedtoward the lamps from the upper face.
 7. The backlight assembly of claim6, wherein the reflecting face comprises openings formed at positionscorresponding to the lamps, respectively.
 8. The backlight assembly ofclaim 1, further comprising a lamp holder combined with ends of thelamps so as to hold the lamps, the lamp holder being covered by the moldmember.
 9. The backlight assembly of claim 1, further comprising adiffusion plate disposed on the lamps to diffuse the light generatedfrom the lamps.
 10. The backlight assembly of claim 9, wherein the moldmember comprises a stepped portion formed on the upper face thereof toguide the diffusion plate.
 11. The backlight assembly of claim 9,wherein the mold member comprises a fixing portion formed on the upperface thereof to fix the diffusion plate, the fixing portion protrudingfrom the upper face.
 12. The backlight assembly of claim 11, wherein thediffusion plate comprises a fixing recess to be coupled to the fixingportion of the mold member.
 13. The backlight assembly of claim 9,further comprising: a reflecting plate disposed under the lamps toreflect the light from the lamps; and an optical sheet disposed on thediffusion plate.
 14. The backlight assembly of claim 13, wherein themold member comprises a sheet-fixing portion formed on the upper facethereof to fix the optical sheet.
 15. The backlight assembly of claim14, wherein the sheet-fixing portion protrudes from the upper face. 16.The backlight assembly of claim 13, wherein the optical sheet comprisesa condensing sheet to condense the light diffused by the diffusionsheet.
 17. The backlight assembly of claim 13, wherein the optical sheetcomprises a so diffusion sheet to diffuse the light diffused by thediffusion sheet.
 18. The backlight assembly of claim 13, furthercomprising: a mold frame coupled to the receiving container to hold thediffusion plate and the optical sheet; and an inverter disposed on arear face of the receiving container to generate a driving voltage forthe lamps.
 19. A liquid crystal display apparatus comprising: abacklight assembly comprising: a plurality of lamps to generate a light;a receiving container to receive the lamps, the receiving containerhaving a bottom portion and a side portion; and a mold member coupled tothe side portion of the receiving container while covering ends of thelamps, the mold member fixing the lamps to the side portion of thereceiving container, the mold member having a reflecting face and anupper face extending from the reflecting face, the reflecting facehaving a diffusion pattern formed thereon so as to diffuse and reflectthe light from the lamps, a liquid crystal display panel to display animage using the light supplied from the backlight assembly; and a topchassis to fix the liquid crystal display panel to the backlightassembly.
 20. The liquid crystal display apparatus of claim 19, whereinthe diffusion pattern comprises protrusions on a surface of thereflecting face.
 21. The liquid crystal display apparatus of claim 19,wherein the diffusion pattern comprises recesses on a surface of thereflecting face.
 22. The liquid crystal display apparatus of claim 19,wherein the reflecting face is downwardly inclined toward the lamps fromthe upper face.
 23. The liquid crystal display apparatus of claim 22,wherein the reflecting face comprises openings formed at positionscorresponding to the lamps, respectively.
 24. The liquid crystal displayapparatus of claim 19, wherein the backlight assembly further comprises:a reflecting plate disposed under the lamps to reflect the light fromthe lamps; a diffusion plate disposed on the lamps to diffuse the lightfrom the lamps; and an optical sheet disposed on the diffusion plate.25. The liquid crystal display apparatus of claim 24, wherein thebacklight assembly further comprises: a mold frame coupled to thereceiving container so as to hold the diffusion plate and the opticalsheet; and an inverter disposed on a rear face to generate a drivingvoltage for the lamps.
 26. The liquid crystal display apparatus of claim19, wherein the backlight assembly further comprises a lamp holdercombined with ends of the lamps so as to hold the lamps, the lamp holderbeing covered by the mold member.
 27. The backlight assembly of claim 1,wherein the upper face of the mold member extending substantiallyparallel to the bottom portion of the receiving container so as to coverthe side portion of the receiving container upon assembly.
 28. Theliquid crystal display apparatus of claim 19, wherein the upper face ofthe mold member extending substantially parallel to the bottom portionof the receiving container so as to cover the side portion of thereceiving container upon assembly.